Jamey's story is linked to that of other young gay, lesbian, and transgender people who have been victims of homophobic attacks, killed, or driven to suicide, in various parts of the world.
On May 17, 2017, sixty years after the young man's death, during the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, a group of artists will come together in a commemorative performance that will last the entire day.
Director's notes
“Bullied to Death” is an experimental and independent film project that aims to use new communication paths between cinema, photography and performing arts to emotionally impact the viewer.
The film's evocative images are inspired by the true story of young JR, a fourteen-year-old from Buffalo who committed suicide in September 2011 after being subjected to repeated bullying, at school and online, following his coming out.
A universally resonant story of loneliness and denied redemption.
It is this universality that pushes the author to tell the story through atypical narrative patterns, using different genres and languages, aiming to create a sensorial, non-didactic film, whose essence must be grasped through physical vision.
The universality of the feelings embraced by the story of the young American allows the director to set the narrative in an undefined space-time, working with actor-performers who take turns embodying the narrative voice.
For the same reason, the film is shot in English, to reach the widest possible audience.
This, in short, is the project's focus: a journey through the story of a teenager who committed suicide in the shadow of an inadequate, confused, and cruel society that is unable to address the increase and related pathological escalation of violence, particularly gender-based violence.
The film doesn't identify any specific location but represents all the places where these tragedies occur. In this sense, it's a film set, literally, around the world.
Inglese:
“Bullied to death” depicts a 24 hour performance against homophobia through the real stories of teenagers worldwide who experience severe bullying episodes at school, from their own families and on the web, as a result of their coming out about their sexuality.
The movie is centered on the life of a 14-year-old American boy, who committed suicide in 2011 in a careless, inadequate society which is confused, cruel, and unable to resolve the increasing violence that deviates towards pathology especially when gender-related matters are at stake.
The movie is without a precise place identification, thus representing all the possible places where these tragedies can happen. Actually, the whole world represents the ideal stage to set the film.
